updated 05:25 pm EST, Fri January 8, 2010

ASUS promises organic, live, discreet tech

ASUS is using CES as the vehicle for a new design concept it hopes will guide its design in the future. Known as Waveface, it centers on using organic designs and new technology to make technology more natural as well as more flexible. The centerpiece is the Waveface Light, which Electronista had the chance to see at ASUS' booth: it would act as a flexible OLED tablet that also fold up into a more conventional notebook design. A mockup interface would have a live stream of data and in tablet form let two users interact at the same time.

Also on display is the Waveface Casa, a TV-like home computer that would serve as a form of information terminal: it would close largely shut into its namesake wave when closed and open up to either watch video or handle more data. When closed, it would show only simple information like the time and weather.

The most portable would be the Waveface Ultra. The thin strip would be intended as a hybrid phone, watch and computing device and would depend on a flexible OLED to let owners wrap the device around their wrist but still have a single surface when handheld.

ASUS readily admits that Waveface devices aren't close to production but adds that they could influence the company's long-term products. Flexible OLED is currently too expensive for most computer-sized displays but is expected to shed a significant amount of its cost within the next few years.